Dispenser for injecting liquid into a container



Feb. 21, 1961 M. E. ANDERSON DISPENSER FOR INJECTING LIQUID mo A CONTAINER Filed 001;. 31. 1957 IN VEN TOR. flI/A/Aid f/n paesw of liquid agent in the rising liquid in said receptacle. -,'Ot her objects of this invention will appear in the fol- 2,972,436 e Patented Feb, 21, 1961 lowing description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying'drawings forming a part of this 2,972,436 specification wherein like reference characters designate DISPENSER FOR INJECTING LIQUID INTO 5 g i g P the sever al vlews' A CONTAINER e rawmgs- The figure of the drawing 1s a fragmentary section Maynard E. Anderson, Redwood City, Calif., assignor to showing one embodiment of the dispenser operatively American Radian)! & Standard Sanitary Cofpemfieh, positioned adjacent a receptacle, such as a laundry tub. New Before explaining the present invention in detail, it Filed Oct 31, 1957, sen No' 693,726 l0 is to be understood that the invention is not limited in itsv application to the details of construction and arrange- 7 Claimsmen of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and I I of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, The present invention relates to a dispenser for init is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology jecting a liquid into a receptacle, and particularly for use employed herein is for the purpose of description and not in conjunction with an automatic washing machine. This of limitation. is an improvement on the invention. disclosed in 00- Referring H W to the g, a more t iled d pending application Serial No. 693,724, .filed October scription of the invention will begiven. Any suitable 31, 1957. 1 timer such as is employed in automatic washing machines It is an object of the present invention to provide a may be used in conjunction with the present invention. A liquid dispenser for use with areceptacle, said dispenser schematic illustration of a suitable timer circuit can be utilizing energy from rising liquid in said receptacle to- Seen in the efefesald pe s pp le Serial pump a desired quantity of a liquid'agent into the recep it I tacle. A receptacle or washer .tub 10 is shown having a It is still another object of the-presentinventionto variablecharge, automatic liquid dispenser mounted provide a liquid dispenser of the foregoing character adjacent one side. The dispenser 12 has an air chamber which is constru ted and arranged o that it a in- 14 formed'inits lower portion and a two-cavity reservoir ject largev volumes of liquids in predetermined amounts 16 formed in its upper portion. A passageway 18 prowithout employing expensive pumps, motors, valve units vides liquid communication, between the bottom of recepand. the like. tacle 10 so that when liquid or water is filled into recep- It i till. a oth objectof the, present i ti t I tacle 10, such liquid will seek to rise in air chamber 14. provide a liquid dispenser of ..the foregoing character The reservoir 16 has two vertically disposed cavities which is Constru ted and arranged so that no moving 7 20 and 22. An air passageway 24 extends between the parts contact the injected liquids thereby avoiding troubles op Of i chamber 14 and e pp feglohsefthe lowerwhich otherwise would arisebecause of corrosive properm st Cavity 20, whereby air displaced from air chamber ties that such liquids may have or'because of their vis-. '14 by rising .liquid is in effect pumped into cavity"20. -cousproperties'or their tendencies to congeal. A O d p ed ir valve zfi, by Way of example,

It is still another object of the present invention to is shown Positioned in passageway 24 so as eOhlrOl provide a dispenser of the foregoing character which utithe p e which the diSPehSeT can fllheliohother lizes low pressures and has clean,- metered ai a th means could .be used foractuating the valve 26. For working medium, whereby simple seals and valves may example an electrically actuated heat motor, characterbe employed. ized by a bi-rjnetallic leaf and a resistance wire heater, Still another object of the present invention is to pro- Would also he sellsfaeloly- Thus, Wheh'ah' Valve 26 is vide a dispenser f th foregoing character hi h o. open the dispenser will function in a manner to be devides gradual injection of the liquid agent to assure scribed'more fully hereinafter, and conversely, when air proper mixing with th wat th liquid b i i valve 26 is" closed, the dispenser is rendered inoperative troduced into the receptacle, thereby avoiding damage f P p g the liquid agent i to fabrics or other materials in the receptacle because The reservoir 16 has a fill veel) 23 Which can e removed of excessive localized concentration ofthe liquid agent. filling an agent, Such as liquid 1 liquid h, It is another object of thepresent invention to provide the like him the pp Cavity The 1W0 Cavities. anautomatic liquid dispenser for injecting a predeterw 20 and 22 are divided y a partition 30 Which has port 32 mined quantity of liquid agent into a receptacle wherein therein gh which liquid agent can fiOW into the rising liquid in the receptacle is utilized for supplying lOWel Cavity Sufrouhdlhg the P 32 and depending the energy to pump aid liquid t, id di e b i from the partition 30 is a collar 34. A valve member 36 constructed and arranged so that it is especially suitable having elrehlhfefehtlallyspaeed Webblhge 38 fits Within for operation with a low liquid head in said receptacle. Collar 34 and has an pp Portion adapted to Seat Within It is still another'object of the present invention to P 32 'fofhloslhg the Same- A p g 49 his betweenprovide an automatic liquid dispenser of the foregoing the lOWef Wall'of Cavity 20 and the Valve m r 36 f r character, said dispenserbeing constructed and arranged urging e lattef upward'lhlo a Closed Position thereby to have a storage chamber for said liquid agent and P ng flew from the pp Cavity 22 into the lower means for automatically recharging the portion of said Cavity A red 42 isfiohheeted to p 23 and is of reservoir from which prescribed quantities of said agent Sufficient g to depress the Valve member 36 against are injected into said receptacle. e t the spring action so that there is liquid communication It is still another object ofthe present invention to between the cavities 20 and 22 when the cap 28 is seprovide an automatic liquid dispenser of the foregoing Curely fastened. i character, said dispenser beingconstructed-and arranged A passageway 44 is open at one end to the lower so that the user may selectively vary, according to the regions of the cavity 20' and at the other end to "the revolume of the rising liquid,i the point at which. the pumpceptacle 10,, and liquid agent can be injected into the ing operation occurs, thereby varying the concentration receptacle via this, passageway44. It will be noted that atleast a portion of thepassageway 44-rises above the lower end of collar 34; It is necessary that this relationaoraaae of cavity 29 would appear to result in the latter being emptied rather quickly. However, this does not occur because as soon as the liquid level in cavity 2%} drops below the lower end of collar 34, air can flow upward through port 32 and more liquid agent will flow down into the lower cavity 29. Since the passageway 44 extends, in part, above the bottom end of collar 34, and the trapped air surrounding the collar 34 maintains the level of passageway 44, there will not be a continuous drainage from passageway 44. Only when the incoming air from the air chamber 14 displaces the liquid agent from cavity 2% will the liquid agent flow in metered quantities into the receptacle ltl. Furthermore, such liquid agent will be restored to cavity by the automatic recharge means described above.

By virtue of this construction and arrangement a liquid agent can be introduced into receptacle it) even though there'is a low head of rising liquid or water in receptacle 1%. This is accomplished by preventing the head' of stored liquid agent from influencing the injection operation which otherwise would disturb the sensitivity required when injecting a liquid agent by means of energy obtained from rising liquid where a low head of liquid is present.

Another feature of the present invention is that it allows the user to vary selectively the amount of liquid agent that is pumped into receptacle w for a given. rise of liquid therein. This is acomplished by discharging air from air chamber 14 to the atmosphere until the rising liquid in receptacle 10 reaches a variable preselected level. Air is then aliowedrto flow through an air passageway 24 and displace the liquid agent from cavity 20. Obviously, the more air that is discharged from air chamber 14 to the atmosphere, the less is available for pumping liquid agent from reservoir 16.

The valve means employed for this purpose includes a rotary valve element 46 which has a plurality of vertical ducts 48. Only two are shown, but it will be understood that any number may be employed. Each duct 48 opens at its upper end at the same radial distance from the axis of valve element 46. The lower end of each duct opens radially outwardly at different horizontal levels.

An air bleed passageway 50 opens into air chamber 14 into communication with whichever duct is in registry therewith. The various ducts 48 can be placed selectively in registry with air bleed passageway 50 merely by turning the selector knob 52 which is operatively connected to valve element 46 by the rod 54.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that the proper positioning of valve element 46 will determine when air canlbe pumped through air passageway 24 for injecting liquid agent into receptacle it). Thus, when the valve element 46 is in the position shown in the drawing, pumping action will then occur because the rising liquid in the air chamber 14 has covered the lower end of duct 43 which is in registry with air bleed passageway 50'. Since the duct. 48 is covered, no further bleeding of air will occur, and all additional air displaced from air chamber 14 by the rising liquid must flow up air passageway 24.

If it is desired to shorten the time interval of pumping or injecting liquid agent into the receptacle 10, it is only necessary to rotate the valve element 46, for example, so that the other duct 48 registers with air bleed passageway 56'. Since the lower end of this duct 48 is still above the rising liquid, the bleeding of air will continue until the rising liquid covers the inlet of this duct. The latter having its lower end. at a higher elevation will allow more air to be bled from air chamber 14 before any will be pumped through air passageway 24, and hence, less is available for displacing liquid agent from cavity 20.

There are other methods for varying the elevation at which air is bled from the air chamber 14 whereby a predetermined volume of air may be bled therefrom and allowed to escape to the atmosphere while the remainder of the trapped air is retained for use in the injection process. One such means could include a hollow tube slidably mounted through an aperture in a seal secured to the top of air chamber 14. The tube would be moved up and down to effect air bleeding at different liquid levels.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A liquid dispenser comprising a housing having an air chamber in its lower portion and a reservior with two vertically disposed cavities thereabove, a passage way opening into the bottom of. said air chamber through which a liquid having a varying head may enter, an air passageway extending from the top of said air chamber to upper regions of the lowermost cavity through which air can be pumped from the air chamber when liquid enters through the first-named passageway, the uppermost cavity forming a storage chamber for a liquid agent and communicating with the lowermost cavity by a port in the wall dividing said cavities, a collar depending from said port :to form with the upper walls of said lowermost cavity a pocket for air pumped from said air cham-.

connected to said latching means operable to render said latching means inoperative thereby closing said valve when said uppermost cavity is open to atmosphere for re filling, and a discharge passageway from the lower part of said lowermost cavity to the atmosphere through which liquid agent can pass by the pumping action of the air entering said lowermost cavity, said discharge passageway rising so that a portion of it is above the lower end of .said collar.

2. A liquid dispenser comprising a housing having an air chamber in its lower portion and a reservoir with two vertically disposed cavities thereabove, a passageway opening into the bottom of said air chamber through which a liquid having a varying head may enter, an' air passageway extending from the top of saidair chamber to upper regions of the lowermost cavity through which air can be pumped from the air chamber when liquid enters through the first-named passageway,- the uppermost cavity forming a storage chamber for a liquid agent and communicating with the lowermost cavity by a port in the wall dividing said cavities, a collar depending from said port to form with the upper walls of said lower most cavity a pocket for air pumped from said air chamber, said collar being operative to pass liquid agent from said uppermost cavity to said lowermost cavity when the liquid level in the lowermost cavity is below the lower end of the collar, valve means surrounded by said collar for closing said port, means biasing the valve closed, means normally latching the valve in the open position, means to open said uppermost cavity to atmosphere for refilling, means connected to said latching means operable to render said latching'means inoperative thereby closing said valve when said uppermost cavity is open to atmosphere for refilling, a discharge passageway from the lower part of said lowermost cavity to the atmosphere through which liquid agent can pass by the pumping action of the air entering said lowermost cavity, said discharge passageway rising so thata portion of it is above the lower end of said collar, and an air valve in said air passageway for selectively opening or closing the same.

3. A liquid dispenser comprising a housing having an air chamber in its lower portion and a reservoir with two vertically disposed cavities thereabove, a passageway opening into the bottom of said air chamber through which a liquid having a varying head may enter, an air passageway extending from the top of said air chamber to upper regions of the lowermost cavity through which air can be pumped from the air chamber when liquid enters through the first-named passageway, the uppermost cavity forming a storage chamber for a liquid agent and communicating with the lowermost cavity by a port in the wall dividing said cavities, a collar depending from said port to form with the upper walls of said lowermost cavity a pocket for air pumped from said air chamber, said collar communicating with the port for controlling the level of the liquid agent in the lower cavity, valve means surrounded by the collar for closing said port, means biasing the valve closed, means normally latching the valve in open position, means to open said uppermost cavity to atmosphere for refilling, means connected to said latching means operable to render said latching means inoperative thereby closing said valve when said uppermost cavity is open to atmosphere for refilling, a discharge passageway from the lower part of said lowermost cavity to the atmosphere through which liquid agent can pass by the pumping action of the air entering said lowermost cavity, said discharge passageway rising so that a portion of it is above the lower end of said collar and a rotary valve member in said metering chamber and operative to bleed air from said chamber until a predetermined level of liquid therein has been reached, and a selector knob operatively connected to said rotary valve member for varying the eifective position of the latter so that different predetermined levels can selectively be set.

4. A liquid dispenser comprising a housing having an air chamber in its lower portion and a reservoir with two vertically disposed cavities thereabove, a passageway opening into the bottom of said air chamber through which a liquid having a varying head may enter, an air passageway extending from the top of said air chamber to upper regions of the lowermost cavity through which air can be pumped from the air chamber when liquid enters through the first-named passageway, the uppermost cavity forming a storage chamber for a liquid agent and communicating with the lowermost cavity by a port in the wall dividing said cavities, a collar depending from said port to form with the upper walls of said lowermost cavity a pocket for air pumped from said air chamber, a discharge passageway from the lower part of said lowermost cavity to the atmosphere through I which liquid agent can pass by the pumping action of the air entering said lowermost cavity, said discharge passageway rising so that a portion of it is above the lower end of said collar, said housing having a fill opening for the uppermost cavity, a fill plug therefor, valve means surrounded by said collar for closing said port, means biasing the valve closed, a thrust member positioned between said valve means and fill plug for opening said valve means when said fill plug is moved to a closed position.

5. A dispenser comprising a housing defining a relatively small dispenser cavity and a relatively large liquid storage cavity for replenishing the supply of liquid in said dispenser cavity, said housing having a fill opening for the storage cavity; means defining a port between the storage cavity and dispenser cavity; valve means for closing said port; spring means urging said valve means toward a closed position; and a thrust member positioned between said valve means and closure for opening said valve means when said closure is moved to its closed position.

6. A dispenser comprising means defining a pumping chamber; passageway means for admitting liquid into said chamber so as to develop a gas pressure therein; means defining a bleed opening for exhausting gas from said chamber; hollow structure movable to selected positions to vary the liquid level at which exhaustion of gas ceases; means defining a liquid dispenser cavity communicating with said pumping chamber to receive the gas pressure produced after exhaustion of the gas; and means defining a liquid storage cavity for replenishing the supply of liquid in said dispenser cavity.

7. A dispenser comprising means defining a pumping chamber; passageway means for admitting liquid into said chamber so as to develop a gas pressure therein; means defining a bleed opening for exhausting gas from said chamber; hollow structure movable to selected positions to vary the liquid level at which exhaustion of gas ceases; a liquid dispenser cavity communicating with said pumping chamber to receive the gas pressure produced after exhaustion of the gas; valve means between said pumping chamber and dispenser cavity for controlling the time of application of the gas pressure to the dispenser cavity liquid; and means defining a liquid storage cavity for replenishing the supply of liquid in said dispenser cavity.

References Cited in the file of this patent I UNITED STATES PATENTS 994,431 Unger June 6, 1911 1,615,413 Snyder Jan. 25, 1927 2,228,914 Pierce Jan. 14, 1941 2,351,579 Beckman June 20, 1944 2,598,377 Herrera May 27, 1952 2,812,119 Bethune Nov. 5, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,485 Great Britain Nov. 27, 1913 of 1913 597,267 Great Britain Ian. 22, 1948 

